Recently, Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez decided to re-open golf courses in the Coachella Valley. While this decision benefits the wealthier parts of the Coachella Valley and while these folks resume their golfing, nuestra gente (our people) are left to face the detrimental consequences and face even greater exposure to COVID-19.

Our county has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in California (currently: 2,960), and so any decisions made by local leaders to re-open businesses, should take a people-first approach. Our families in the ECV are hardworking and rely on pay-check to pay-check to sustain their families. Many of them work tirelessly in the agricultural fields not only to feed their families but to feed us and the rest of the country. Our farm-workers are essential workers who do most of the work that hardly anyone else dares to do.

Nuestra comunidad in the ECV is predominantly composed of uninsured, undocumented, farmworkers, immigrants -- most of whom are low-income. Our community is at greater risk to be hit hardest by COVID-19 -- which we are witnessing across the country -- as many of our youth suffer from pre-existing conditions like asthma and diabetes due to the environmental realities that exist in the ECV (e.g. the Salton Sea, pesticides from agricultural farms, arsenic water in mobile homes).

Yet, many continue to risk their lives, while many of us quarantine safely at home. Many of our farm-workers won’t receive the $1200 stimulus check, don’t have access to health insurance, and don’t have a school to send their children to while they work to feed us.

So we need your help!

We are launching a GoFundMe to support farm-working families in the Eastern Coachella Valley with food baskets and food gift-cards while they endure this pandemic. We will deliver these resources at different farm-working sites; each farm-working crew has approximately 20-60 people. We plan to deliver our first basket as soon as we hit our first mark to support one crew. The goal is to deliver resources to one crew per week as we continue to fundraise to support our farm-working families. The food baskets will consist of basic necessities (rice, beans, canned food, milk, bread).

If you can, please contribute $5, $10, anything helps! If you have essential items that you would also like to donate (e.g. toilet paper, water, non-perishable items, etc) please feel free to reach out at: feedingfamiliesECV@gmail.com

We are deeply grateful to all of our farm-workers and immigrants who are putting their lives at risk every day to feed our country.